THE DAILY BRIEFING
FRANKFURT FIGHT German business Deutsche Boerse is stepping up its battle to snatch lucrative euro- clearing business away from its rival the London Stock Exchange. Unlike the LSE, Deutsche pockets all the proceeds from its far smaller clearing business – but is now reportedly drawing up plans to share them out in an effort to grow. LENDER LOAN Beleaguered doorstep lender Provident Financial has been forced to repay a £120m retail bond by borrowing from its banks. The Provvy dipped into its £450m loan facility to pay off investors when the bond matured on Wednesday. The stock rose 6.8pc, or 58p, to 908p.
COURT BATTLE Retail giant Morrisons could face a potentially ‘crippling’ liability payout, as thousands of staff sue the grocer for ‘upset and distress’ caused by their personal details being published online, the High Court heard. A total of 5,518 former and current employees are attempting to claim compensation, following the security breach in 2014 that saw payroll data of nearly 100,000 staff posted on the internet. ADVERTISING WOE Revenues at Trinity Mirror slid amid a ‘volatile’ advertising market. Trinity, which is Britain’s biggest regional newspaper publisher, said like-for-like print advertising and circulation revenue had dropped by 16pc and 7pc respectively in the third quarter. Meanwhile, publishing revenue was down by 9pc, although digital revenue grew by 4pc. SHARE SEIZE US hedge funds are seeking to seize rent-to- own business Brighthouse from its private equity owners, sources claim. The business’s debt pile is owned by bondholders including Wall Street firm Apollo. They may seek to take over the company by swapping these debts for shares, which would wipe out owner Vision Capital. FASHION SALES Encouraging customers to splash on full-price clothes helped sales at Matalan soar. The retailer saw full-price sales jump 19.6pc in the 13 weeks to August 26 while total revenue rose to £259.9m from £245.5m. Earnings increased to £22.7m from £15.4m. GAS FIELD Russia’s largest oil producer Rosneft has bought a 30pc stake in the Zohr gas field, the largest gas deposit in the Mediterranean, from Italy’s Eni for around £855m.